Katy Raven Hernandez Dorsey

My work is experimental and intuitive in nature and explores design principles through formal and organic methods. This work also incorporates the subconscious, impulsive and chaotic rhythms that spiral between academic thought and instinct. In this way, I rely on intuition, personal narrative, probability, and chance of enigmatic happenings to complete the paintings. I am inspired by a multitude of subjects: nature, science, spirituality and often a person, relationship or experience. Art history influences range from the Colorfield to Gestural and Abstract Expressionist painters, among others. My physical process generally begins with a broad gesture using color on canvas, wood panel or paper. From there, I explore the space physically, academically and intuitively. As the layers build, the form becomes the intention of my thoughts. Sometimes, there is an inspired narrative; other times, the materials, specifically the color, initiate the drive for that portal I am searching to find. My paintings range in size from four inches to twelve feet and employ a mix of acrylic, oil, water and cold wax mediums. For the last 20 years, I have been exploring abstraction through painting, abandoning object, text or geometric shapes that were present in my previous work. I use photography to capture realism, but with painting, I wanted something else. I explore the ephemeral realms, portals, and unseen spaces in my mind.

In the early 1990s, I received a BA in photography from the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, and spent a summer in Paris, France, in a photography program. From there, I went to Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, and earned two MFAs in photography and printmaking. I currently live in Rio Rancho, NM, where I work in my private studio and live in a three-generational family. I own Silver-Bar Studios, located in a historic building in Belen, NM, in the Historic Arts District on Becker Avenue. It is open by appointment only.

2-D, Painting (all materials)